Claire and Hershel's Holidays
by AxelThePyromaniac
Summary: A compilation of Holiday one-shots. A new one for each holiday! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Christmastime

Claire and Hershel's Christmastime

Disclaimer: I do not own Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.

However, it did make me cry.

"Hershel, wake up! It's Christmas morning!" Claire said, shaking me out of bed. I yawned and rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes, then sat up to face Claire. She wore a red Santa hat and elf pajamas I bought her the last week.

"Good morning, Claire." I said, greeting her like a gentleman. She rolled her eyes at me and pulled me out of bed, over to the Christmas tree in my living room she bought me. It was a large tree, and only a few needles had fallen off. Claire was always the one to want to celebrate these holidays, and I was just along for the fun of it. She was a great girl, and I loved her with all that I was. As I walked over to the tree, I saw double the gifts that I had put there before. Of course, Claire had outdone herself again. "Clairie," I said, using the pet name I had given her oh-so-many years ago. "You didn't have to…" She sat next to the tree, pulling out a gift and handing it to me. It was a rectangular box, and it said "HERSHEL" in all capital letters. I smiled and sat next to her, digging through the pile to hand her a gift of her own.

"Thank you." She said as she began tearing through the paper. I decided to follow her example and carefully tore through the paper of the small rectangular box. It was a car, the kind I collected. It was a very rare automobile model from the 1800's, so rare that I had no idea how she got a hold of it.

"Claire, this is amazing. Thank you." I said, hugging her in thanks. "In fact, it reminds me of a puzzle…"

After solving my Christmastime puzzle in a breeze, we resumed to sharing gifts. This time, it was my dear Claire's turn to open a gift I got her. Let it be known that I'm not really the type of man that knows what it is that women like when it comes to gifts. However, asking Claire outright what she wanted would be the exact opposite of what a gentleman would do. So, I did a bit of detective work, trying to figure out what Claire would want. All I could do now was hope that she would like it. Watching as she carefully tore away the paper from the box, she uncovered a box, larger than the one she gave me, but made of wood and ornately decorated. It had been a very slow process to hand-carve the box without her seeing, with me having to take out the box when she was late coming home from University. The flat we lived in together was pretty close to both of out campuses, but Claire being the overachiever she was, she always had questions for her professor and the like.

"Hershel... This is beautiful..." she said, lifting up her glasses as to really see the box.

"It was nothing, really. I must have my hobbies," I said, smiling at her. "Anyways, there is something inside the box as well." I said, scooting a bit closer to her. She opened the box and gasped.

"Hershel!" she said for the umpteenth time that day. She removed the small bracelet, a silver cord with glass beads strung on it, all in various tones of Claire's favorite colors. Green, blue, and purple. "It's so beautiful... Thank you, my dear gentleman." Claire said as she wrapped her arms around me, enveloping me in the moment. I would forever remember that moment, and I hugged her back. As she pulled away from me, she looked up. "Mistletoe." Claire said, gesturing to the ceiling. I stared at her in shock. She wasn't the type to do this kind of thing... Yet she was. Laughing silently to myself, I closed my eyes and let our lips meet.

"Merry Christmas." I said, bringing my lips back to hers.

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A/N: Yay, it's longer! Like? Dislike? Please let me know. Should I add an entry for each holiday? Strictly ClairexLayton. I ship that pairing more than anything else.


	2. Chapter 2: New Year

Claire and Hershel's New Year

Disclaimer: I do not own Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.

I cried, though.

"Just a few more minutes now!" Claire said to me, glancing at the old grandfather clock as we sat on the couch. "Okay, did we do everything that we needed for the New Year?" Claire asked, her eyes focused on me.

"Well, I do believe we have everything all done… Oh, did we forget the resolutions?" I said, not remembering if we ever did.

"No! Hershel, we didn't!" Claire said, springing up from her spot on the couch and running into the bedroom. I chuckled and watched her. This was no better than Christmas!

"Oh, Claire. What will I ever do with you?" I said, sitting back down on the couch and waiting for her to return. After a few minutes, I heard something that sounded like leaves rustling. Turning around to see what it was, I saw Claire attempting to balance a sheaf of paper and multiple pens in her delicate, yet strong arms. As soon as I saw this, I of course stood to help her, taking the papers from her. A true gentleman does not watch a lady struggle.

"Thanks, Hershel." She said, a grateful look in her eye. I smiled at the sight of this and placed the paper on the coffee table, next to the pens that Claire set down.

"So, I assume these are for our resolutions?" I asked, sitting back down on the couch and leaning forward to grab a pen.

"Of course, silly. Now, let us think about these. We only have… five minutes until it's the New Year!" Claire said, sounding slightly exasperated. Who could blame her? Resolutions were something she stuck to until they were done. It did not exactly help that she held herself up to ridiculously high standards, either.

I pondered that for a while, and wrote down what I thought in my mind. There was the usual SOLVE MORE PUZZLES, written in all capital letters to emphasize its importance, then the BE A GENTLEMAN, always important. There was also one to be said about Claire, I realized I had been neglecting to be very romantic toward her sometimes… I was never good at the whole romance thing, I get flustered to easily… BE MORE ROMANTIC WITH MY DEAR CLAIRE. Nevertheless, I would never go too far, I would keep within the limits of a gentleman.

After writhing the last resolution down, I decided that I was done for my resolutions, and I snuck a look at Claire, who was furiously writing away. I smiled to myself again and waited patiently until she was done. I folded my paper in half, and then placed it on the coffee table as I lean back in the couch.

"…" I sighed, thinking about the year that had passed. So much had happened this year. This was the year Claire told me that my feelings for her were mutual, much to the distaste of the boys that had crushes on the girl. However, whenever someone asked her out, she responded with a: "I'm in love with somebody else…" and cast a glance at me if she could. This always caused a furious blush to come to my cheeks, and I pulled my red cap over my eyes as to hide my burning cheeks.

"I'm done!" Claire said, holding up her paper. I patted the seat next to me.

"Well, the year will be as well, in…" I began, but the chimes of the grandfather clock, twelve of them, cut me off signifying that the New Year was here. "Happy new year." I said, hugging Claire. She hugged me back, squeezing me as hard as she could.

"Happy new year." she said into my ear.

When we broke the hug, she handed me a sheet of paper.

"What's this?" I asked, a bit confused.

"My resolutions, silly!" Claire said, smiling.

"Ah, I see. Well, my list is on the table, here." I said. I grabbed my list off the table and held it out to her, reading off her list at the same time. The first thing on the list was: SOLVE MORE PUZZLES. The second was: BE A LADY. Finally, the third was BE MORE ROMANTIC WITH MY DEAR HERSHEL. I laughed aloud. "Oh, Clairie… We're so alike!"

"We are… Therefore, I know you'll like this…" Claire said, presenting me with the first kiss of the New Year.

A/N: No, they will not all end like that, don't worry.


	3. Chapter 3: Valentine's Day

We had just gotten home when I handed her the envelope I had spent so much time working on. Today was a very special day, and I wanted to make sure she enjoyed it thoroughly. I used what little cooking skills I had and attempted to make a nice dinner and we retired to the sofa afterward with fresh cups of tea and silly smiles on our faces.

Claire held out the envelope with a heart-shaped wax seal on it. On the front, her name, Claire Foley, written in black ink, in the unmistakable handwriting of the newly appointed professor. She marveled at it once more as I watched. I held my envelope in my hands, used with the same format as I had used with the one I had given to her. I smiled a bit at this as I pulled out a letter opener and handed it to her.

"Happy Valentine's day," I jokingly said as I handed her the letter opener. Claire looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"Gee, thanks." she said, smiling at me.

The letter was another matter. I may not be the best at choosing the perfect gift for women, but I do take pride in my writing. The letter was one of the hardest things I'd done, but when I was done it was the most rewarding. As I read the letter my dear Claire had written for me and she read hers, her eyes teared up.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, dear." I said, hugging her.

"Why would you ever be sorry? It's beautiful, Hershel," she sniffed, tears escaping her eyes. I was a bit confused at this statement.

"Then why would you be crying?" I asked, worried. She suddenly began laughing.

"Because... It's just so beautiful, Hershel." she said, pressing her lips to mine. I was a bit surprised as she kissed me. I kissed back, and before I knew it we had ended up on the floor, having knocked the couch over.

"Oh dear," I sighed, looking at the predicament we had put ourselves in. Claire laughed, and I stood up before helping her to her feet.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly. I laughed and grabbed her hand.

"It's no problem, nobody's hurt, are they?" I reassured her. Then I remembered that I had meant to give her something... I pulled the black box from my coat and held it out to her. Claire's eyes widened as I handed the box to her. Inside was a light pink scarf I had purchased form a craft fair and a small necklace with three beads on it, matching the bracelet I had given her for Christmas. I made it myself, putting it together in the same way I made the box, waiting until Claire was late from University to work on it. She opened up the box and smiled, hugging me once again.

"I have something for you, too," Claire said as she sprinted to our room and returned with a box a larger size as the one I had given her, with little question marks drawn all over it. I smiled as she handed me the box, then my eyes widened as I opened it.

"C-Claire..." I gasped, looking at the contents of the box.

"Happy Valentine's day," she said as I wrapped an arm around her waist. Suddenly, I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers.

The box was full of puzzles.

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**A/N: SORRY IT WAS SO SHORT AND SO LATE I WAS GROUNDED AND THEN I WAS BUSY AND ASDFGHJKL; Anyway, thanks for reading, please R&R!**


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